Sound reproducing machines



April 20, 1965 J. A. CHURCHILL 3,179,419

SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES Filed Sept. 28. 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Sou A094: cnukcmu.

MAX E LL E. SPARROH ATToRMSY April 20, 1965 Filed Sept. 28. 1960 J. A. CHURCHILL SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES 7' Sheets-Sheet 2 242m 3 gig INVENTOR John Adrian Churchill by Maxwell E.Sp'orrow ATTORN EY APril 1965 J. A. CHURCHILL 3,179,419

SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES Filed Sept. 28. 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. John Adrian Churchill FIG 3A 4 by Maxwell E.Sporrow ATTOQRNEY 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 28. 1960 INVENTOR :rouu ADNAN cuuacmu,

rmxweu. sPAixRou ATjTORNEY April 1965 J. A. CHURCHILL SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 28, 1960 lNVE/VTUR :rouu Anamn cuuflcmu.

NAXNEL-L E- SPARROW ATTORNEY April 1965 J. A.CHURCH|LL SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 28. 1960 Q 8w Q & Zg

INVENTOR JOHN ADNRN cuuaamu.

NAxuEu. E. svmaou ATTORNEY April 0, 1965 J. A. CHURCHILL SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Sept. 28, 1960 INVENTOR :roau AomAu cmmcun. L

MAXWELL E- $PARRON ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,179,419 SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINES John Adrian Churchill, Thorpe-le-Soken, England, assignor to Foster-Mallard Limited, London, England Filed Sept. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 58,939 8 Claims. (Cl. 274--) This invention relates to sound reproducing machines of the kind in which grooved disc-shaped records are used in association with a pick-up device means being provided to support a stack of records in an upper position above a turntable and to drop them one-by-one on to the turntable for playing, the movements of the pick-up device between playing operations, and the dropping of the records, being controlled by a rotary control member brought into operation to effect a control cycle preceding each playing operation.

The rotary control member must be brought into operation manually to initiate a control cycle preceding the playing of the first record when the machine is started up, and automatically at the conclusion of the playing of a record to initiate a control cycle before the playing of the next following record or to bring the machine to a stop after the last record of a group has been played. It is also desirable that provision shall be made for stopping the machine at any time, and for rejecting or repeating the playing of any record in a group placed on the machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide a reliable and eflective mechanism for carrying out the above-mentioned operations.

According to one feature of the present invention, in a sound reproducing machine of the kind referred to a switch controlling the supply of electric current to a driving motor and a driving transmisison between the said motor and the turntable are respectively closed and rendered operative or opened and rendered inoperative by movement in opposite directions of a common actuating element itself directly movable in the direction for closing the switch by manual control means and movable in the opposite direction under predetermined conditions automatically at the end of the control cycle of the machine.

a In a sound reproducing machine according to the last preceding paragraph and constructed to play the recordings on the undersides of records before they are dropped on to the turntable, a member acting to set to a predetermined position a change-over device determining the setting of the machine for topside or underside playing may be operated by the manual control means during movement of the common actuating element thereby.

Conveniently, the common actuating element is pivotally mounted and has associated with it a trigger member through which movement for moving the common actuating element in the switch closing direction is imparted by a manual control, the said trigger member being also settable, manually and automatically, to a position in which it is moved, by a member operated during a control cycle of the rotary control member, in the opposite direction.

The manual movement of the trigger member may be effected by a main control rod itself movable between two predetermined positions and operated under the control of a hand knob or equivalent, by separate and independently movable cam members for movement in opposite directions, the cam members being self-returning to their normal position independently of the rod.

Both the start and the stop cam members may also control a trip device to initiate a control cycle of the rotary control device and, in a machine constructed to 3,179,419 Patented Apr. 20, 1965 play the recordings on the undersides of records before they are dropped on to the turntable, the start cam members may operate the member acting to set to the appropriate position a change-over device.

In addition to the hand knob or equivalent which actuates the start and stop cam members there may be provided a second hand knob or equivalent to select the rejection or repetition of any particular record on a stack in the machine, the said second hand knob or equivalent acting, for reject operation through the start cam member to initiate a control cycle which brings the next record into use, and, for repeat operation, acting to inhibit the operation of the parts operated during a change cycle except for the outward and return movement of the pickup arm.

The invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a sound reproducing machine arranged to play the recordings on the underside of each record in the upper position before that record is dropped on to the turntable.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a sound-reproducing machine embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 3 and 3A are an inverted plan view, on a larger scale, showing the parts in the positions they occupy when the machine is not working;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view similar to FIGURE 3 showing only some of the parts and these being in the positions they occupy whilst the machine is playing a record;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view similar to a part of FIGURES 3 and 4 showing some of the parts in the positions they occupy at substantially the middle point of a control cycle which results in the stopping of the machine;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view similar to part of FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrating the action resulting from manual selection of the stop condition; and

FIGURE 7 is a section on the line 7-7 in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 8 is a detail elevation of part of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 10 is a partial plan view showing some of the Q parts in another position.

Referring to FIGURES land 2 of the drawings the working parts of the sound reproducing machine are mounted on a base-plate 20 which may be mounted in any suitable cabinet, preferably on resilient supports (not shown).

A turntable 21 is mounted on a tubular spindle 22 supported in a bearing 23 at the centre of a depression 24 in the base-plate 20, and is driven by an electric motor 25 supported on the underside of the base-plate 20, through a transmission mechanism 26, more fully described hereinafter, providing a frictional drive to a dependent rim 27 on the turntable.

A pick-up arm 28, carrying a pick-up 29 provided with two styli 30 and 31 respectively projecting in downward and upward directions is mounted (as shown in FIG- URE 7) to swing in a vertical plane about a pivot pin 32 carried by abracket 33 fixed to a vertical tubular spindle 34 mounted in a bearing member fixed to the base-plate, the spindle 34 extending downwardly through the baseplate.

A removable spindle 35, frictionally engaged in the bore of the tubular spindle 22 so as to rotate with the turntable, extends upwardly from the said turntable, the spindle having concentric upper and lower portions 36 and 37 and an oblique intermediate portion 38 the upper end of which forms a shoulder 39 to support a stack of records above the turntable, mechanism being j provided to move the records one-by-one off the shoulder and allow them to fall on to the turntable. Records on the spindle are indicated by the reference numerals 4t), 41, 42 and 43, and are held in a horizontal position, and caused to rotate with the turntable 21, by an upper turn table 44 keyed to the spindle and rotatable ina bearing 45 carried by an arm 46 supported on a spindle 47 slidable in a guide pillar 48 standing up from the base-plate 20.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings, the electric motor 25 has mounted on its spindle a stepped driving wheel 49 adapted to drive the turntable through one or other of two friction wheels 51 and 52, an idler wheel 53 being interposed between the driving wheel 49 and the friction Wheel 52 so that the turntable is driven in opposite directions by bringing the friction wheel 51 or the friction Wheel 52 into an operative position, and the speed of the turntable is determined by moving the friction wheels vertically to bring them into the plane of the appropriate portion of the driving wheel 49. This driving mechanism is fully described in our British Patent No. 909,855. The spindle of the electric motor also carries a worm 53 meshing with a worm wheel 54 mounted on a shaft 55 journalled in bearings on the underside of the base-plate 211, the shaft 55 also having mounted on it a worm 56 for driving an interrupted gear 57 forming part of a rotary control unit'58 brought into operation when the machine is started, and at the termination of the playing of each recording, to reset the machine for playing the next recording, or to stop its operation when there are no more records to be played. The rotary control unit 58 includes a cam 59 and a pin 61, eccentric to the axis of the said control unit, the

pin 61acting on various arms as hereinafter described.

The tubular spindle 34 carries, below the base-plate 20, a plate 62 including an arcuate arm 63 concentric with the spindle 34 and having one end thereof shaped to provide three steps 64, 65, 66. The plate 62 is formed on opposite sides with two grooves, one of which is shown at 67, these grooves being co-extensive and extending radially with respect to the spindle 34.

A compound arm 68, pivoted at 69 on the base-plate and having one of its portions 71 above the'base-plate and the other portion 72 below the base-plate has both of its portions attached to the pivot pin at 69, the two portions being also connected one to the other by a pin 73 passing through an arcuate slot 74in the base-plate. The portion 71 of the arm 68 carries a roller cam follower75 co-operating with the cam 59, against the profile of which it is urged by a spring 76, the portion 72 of the arm 68 carrying two spring fingers 77 formed with pips 78 adapted to engage in the grooves 67 in the plate 62. The arm 68 normally occupies the position in which it is shown in FIGURE 3, the cam follower being in engagement with the cam at the highest point of the latter,

and, during a cycle of the control unit, its end on which the spring fingers 77 are mounted swings first anticlockwise and then clockwise about the pivot 69. At some point during its anti-clockwise swing, depending on the position of the pick-up arm, the pips engage in the grooves 67, and motion is transmitted to the plate 62 to swing the pick-up arm outwardly to a maximum outward position, and then to swing the, said pick-up arm inwardly to a position for commencing to play the next record, that position being determined by setting a movable stop 79 to be engaged by one or other of the steps 64, 65, 66, on the plate 62.

The position of the stop 79 is controlled by a sizing mechanism which forms no part of the present invention and will not be described herein. A full description is to be found in my co-pending application No. 36,088 now abandoned.

The driving pin 61 of the control unit 53, during the rotation of the control unit, engages and displaces an arm 148, urged towards the said driving pin 61 by a tension spring 149, to move to-and-fro a pecker member 159 co-operating with a rocking member 151 pivoted at 152 on the base-plate 20, the rocking member 151 being formed with two notches 153 and 153a one on each side of a V-shaped nose 154, the centre line of which passes through the pivot axis of the said rocking member 151, the said rocking member being acted on by a spring 155 which, once the said rocking member has passed a deadcentre position, tends to urge it towards either one of two movement limiting stops 156 and157, depending on its direction of motion.

The pecker member 1519, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, is biassed to a central position by a tension spring 159a extending between anchorage points on the said pecker member 156 and on the arm 143 respectively, the said central position of the pecker member being such that its tip travels along a path passing through or very close to the pivot axis of the rocking member 151.

Depending on the position of the rocking member 151 when the pecker member 151} is operated, the said pecker member isguided' by the nose 154 into one or other of the notches 153 and 153a and moves the rocking member overits dead-centre position so that it moves to its other extreme position. Thus the rocking member 151 is I moved in opposite directions by successive cycles of the control unit 58, this movement being used to determine lowered to play a record on the turntable, whether or not a releasing mechanism is operated to cause a record to drop on to the turntable, and in which direction the turntable is rotated for the next playing operation.

The sizing mechanism includes'an arm which moves outwardly across the under surface of the lowermost record in the stack during a control cycle and, if there is no record present, causes the closing of contacts to energise asolenoid coil 165.

The solenoid coil 165 co openates with an armature 166 (FIGURE 3) coupled by a link 167 to one corner of a triangular plate 168 pivoted at another corner thereof to the base-plate 20, another link, 169, pivoted to the triangular plate 168 co-axially with the link 167, acting through a tension spring 171 on a pivoted latch 172 adapted to engage with a turned-up ear 173 on the plate 62 to hold the pickup arm in a position clear of the records. To the third corner of the triangular plate 168 is connected one end of a further rod 174.

A spring 177 acting on the armature 166 urges it in a direction to. release the latch 172, and the solenoid coil 165, when energised, urges it in the opposite direction. A- latch 178, ivoted at 179 on the base-plate 20, is urged by a tension spring 181 about its pivot to engage a collar 182 on'the armature 166 and retain the latter in the position to which it is moved when the solenoid coil, 165 is energised, the collar 182 having a frusto-conical face co-operating with the latch 178 to move it out of the wayvas the armature moves under the influence of the solenoid coil. The latch 178 also carries a pin 183 adapted to be engaged by a nose 184 on a supporting arm 82 for the stop 79 to release the said latch 178, the arm 82 being moved to release the latch 178 by a striker 211 carried on the portion 72 of the compound arm 68, as the said arm 68 returns to its normal position.

The upward and downward movement of the pick-up arm 28 to bring the pick-up into position for playing records above or on the turntable respectively is effected by a lever 212, pivoted at 213 on a bracket 214 fixed to the base-place 21), the lever 212 acting at one end on lever 212, the remainder of the said unit providing a flat surface 221 from which the ramps diverge upwardly and downwardly. The ramp member 216 is connected by a link 218 to the rocking member 151, so that it is moved from one position to the other by the said rockin member.

Associated with the pecker member 150 is a bar 158 movable by means of a control knob 159 on the upper side of the turnable from the position shown in FIGURE 3, in which it is clear of the pecker member, to a position in which it deflects the said pecker member towards the left, thus causing it, on each cycle of the control unit 58, to move into the notch 153 on the rocking member, so that the position of the rocking member is not changed, and the machine remains set -for playing the upper sides of records on the turntable.

The rotary control unit 58, as shown in FIGURE 3, normally occupies a position such that the gap in the teeth of the interrupted gear 57 is opposite the worm 56, so that the latter is free to rotate without driving the interrupted gear. An arm 186, pivoted on the driving pin 61, is formed with a projection 187 adapted to engage with the thread of the worm 56 so as to cause the latter to be moved far enough, to engage its teeth with the said thread, the arm 186 being pivoted coaxially with another arm 188, with which it has a lost-motion connection. The arm 188 is operated by a push rod 189 when the pick-up reaches the inner end of the sound track on a record, the push rod 189 being moved by an ear 189a on the plate 62 already mentioned, to engage the projection 187 with the worm, and is moved to its inoperative position as the control unit approaches the end of a revolution by a shoulder 191 on the arm 188 engaging the worm. The arm 188 is similarlyoperable to start a control cycle by the actuation of a start control 192. p

The rod 189 has adjustably mounted on it a pusher head 18% which transmits its movement to the arm 188.

A three-armed lever 193 pivoted at 194 on the baseplate 20 has one arm thereof connected by a link 195 to an on-off switch 196 in the circuit of the electric motor 25, and is urged by a tension spring 197 extending between that arm and an anchorage point on the base-plate 20 in a direction to close the switch. Another arm of the lever 193 is linked to a lever 198 arranged to move the friction wheels 51,52 towards and away from the turntable rim, and the third arm carries a trigger member 199, pivoted to the said arm. The rod 174 passes through a boss 201 on the trigger member 199, and a coiled compression spring 202, fixed at one end to the rod 174, acts on the said boss, applying, when the plate 168 is rotated by the solenoid 165, a thrust tending to rotate the trigger member 199, clockwise as shown in FIGURE 3, about its pivot. Another rod 203, passing through another boss 204 on the trigger member 199, carries a pair of spaced collars 205 and 206 one on each side of the boss 204, a coiled compression spring 207 between the boss 204 and the collar 206 tending'to urge the collar 205 against the boss 204. The other end of the rod 203 carries a spool 208 movable to an d-fro between two spring fingers 209, 209 fixed to the base-plate 20, so as to maintain the said spool in either one of two positions.

The trigger member 199 co-operates with the portion 72 of the arm 68, a down-turned end thereof being urged against the side of the said arm portion 72 when the solenoid coil 165 is energised and moving, during the initial part of the succeeding oscillation of the arm 68, into a position substantially perpendicular thereto, so that on the return movement of the said arm 68 the three-armed lever is rocked to open the switch 196, this movement of the trigger member 199 also moving the spool 208 through the spring fingers 209, 209.

When the machine is not operating the control unit 58 is stationary, the worm 56 being opposite the gap in, the teeth of the gear wheel 57. The arm 68, by reason of the fact that its cam follower 75 is in engagement with the highest point of the cam 59, is swung to the left-hand extreme of its arc of movement, and the rocking member 151 is in such a position that the pin 217 is opposite the downward ramp of the ramp member 216.

The pick-up arm 28 is supported by a rest 220, so that the pin 217 is not in engagement with the ramp 219, and the said arm is held against inward movement by the latch 172.

The releasing mechanism for the records on the spindle comprises a finger movable in a slot in the spindle to displace the lowermost record from the shoulder 39, the finger being operated by downward movement of a stem 222 slidable in the spindle 35 by means of a rocker member 223 pivoted on a bracket 224 fixed to the base-plate 20 and moved to effect the release of a record by a link 225 pivoted to a lever 226 itself pivoted on the baseplate 20. The lever 226 is rocked to operate the lever 225 by another lever 227 pivoted on the base-plate and caused to make an oscillating movement during each cycle of movement of the control unit 58 by the driving pin 61. The lever 226 carries a bell-cranked lever 228, pivoted to it at 229, one arm of the bell-crank lever 228 being pivotally connected at 231 to a link 232 by which it is coupled to the rocking member 151.

In the position of the rocking member for playing recordings on the upper sides of records, as it is shown in FIGURE 3, the link 232 holds the bell-crank lever 228 in such a position that its other arm lies in the path of the lever 227, so that movement of that lever also moves the lever 226 and causes a record-dropping operaion to be effected, but when the rocking member is in the position for playing the underside of a record, as shown in FIGURE 4, the bell-crank lever 228 is displaced out of the path of the lever 227, and the latter lever moves idly, without moving the lever 226'.

The friction wheels 51 and 52 as described in the complete specification of my British Patent No. 909,855 are carried by articulated arms 233 which are rocked simultaneously about their common pivot at 234 to bring one or other of them into engagement with the rim 27 on the turntable by angular movement of a plate 235 having pins 236 co-operating with the said arms. The plate 235 has a projecting arm 237 coupled by a link 238 to the rocking member 151, so that the movement of the said rocking member is transmitted to the plate. In the position of the rocking member 151 corresponding to topside playing, as shown in FIGURE 3, the friction wheel 52 is in a position to engage the turntable rim, and in the position of the rocking member 151 corresponding to underside playing, shown in FIGURE 4, the friction wheel 51 engages the turntable rim.

A hand control knob 192 is mounted on a spindle 240 passing through the base-plate 20 and two cam members 241, 242 are rotatably mounted on the said spindle. The two cam members are urged in opposite directions by a tension spring 244 extending between them, and an arm 245 fixed to the spindle 240 is formed with a pin 246 extending between the said cam members. The cam members 241 and 242, are each provided with an opening to receive the spool 208, the spring 244 normally holding the said cam members in such positions that one end of the opening in each of them is engaging the spool.

Movement of the knob 192 in one direction, anti-clockwise in FIGURE 3, moves the cam member 241 in the same direction, and movement of the knob 192 in a clockwise direction moves the cam member 242 also in a clockwise direction. The opening in each cam member is formed with a cam edge to co-operate with the spool 208, the edge 247 on the cam member 241 acting to displace the spool 208 inwardly between the fingers 209 when that cam member is moved away from its normal position, and the edge 248 on the cam member 242 acting to displace the spool 208 outwardly between the fingers 209 when that cam member is moved away from its normal position.

arrears ment by the spool. The openings in the cam membersare 'so shaped that, the said members can return to their normal positions without further displacing tne spool 2%. A slide bar 249, guided by a T-shaped projection 251 on the base-plate 2t) engaging in a slot therein, is arranged to be moved by actuation of either one of the cam members 241, 242, to engage the rocking member 151 if the latter is in the position shown in FIGURE 4, and moving it to the position shown in FIGURE 3.

The slide bar 249 has a slot 24% therein into which projects a pin 241a carried by the cam member 241, and is formed with an offset limb 24% adapted to co-operate with a limb 242a on the cam member 242, so that the said slide bar 249 is movable, towards the right in FIG URE 3, by operation of either one of the cam members.

A tension spring 24% connected between the slide bar 249 and an anchorage point on the base-plate, pulls the said slide bar to the left.

A projection 252 on the slide bar 249 co-operates with one arm of a resilient lever 253 pivoted at 25% on the base-plate 26, the other end of the lever 253 co-operating with the pusher head 18%, when the slide bar 249 is moved, to displace the arms 188, 186 and engage the projection 187 on the latter arm with the worm 56. A lever 255 is mounted co-axially with the knob 192 on a sleeve 256 surrounding thespindle 246, the sleeve 256 carrying,

an arm 257 formed with a projection 258 extending between an edge of the cam member 241 and an edge on a third member 259 rotatably mounted on the spindle 246. Movement of the lever 255 in an anti-clockwise direction as shown in FIGURE 3 operates the cam member 241 in the same way as does the knob 192 and movement of the lever 255 in the clockwise direction moves the member 259, also in a clockwise direction.

The arm 148 is pivotally mounted on a plate 261 itself pivoted at 262 on the base-plate 26, a rigid link 263 being provided which connects the said plate 261 to the member 259. A tension spring 264 urges the plate 261 against a stop 265, holding the plate 261 in the position shown in FIGURE 3, in which the arm 148 is operable by the driving pin 61 but, if the member 259 is moved by operation of the lever 255, the plate 261 is moved about its pivot, to the position shown in FIGURE 6 moving the arm 148 out "of the path of the driving pin 61, so that the said arm is not operated. A spring latch 266, ccoperating with a step 267 on the edge of the plate 61, holds the latter in the position to which it is moved by the member 259. The plate 261 is also formed with a projecting ear 268 which, when the plate is in the position shown in FIGURE 6, projects into the path of the driving pin 61, the arrangement being such that, after the said pin 61 has passed the position at which it would normally operate the arm 148, it displaces the plate 261 far enough to disengage the latch 266, thus allowing the said plate to return to its normal position under the influence of the spring 264.

The arm148 has formed on it an upturned lug 269 which, when the said arm 148 is moved to its position out of the path of the driving pin 61, acts on the bellcrank lever 228 to move it to its inoperative position, thus preventing the record releasing mechanism from operating. e

The control knob 159 has three operative positions, in one of which it holds the bar 158 clear of the pecker member 150, as shown in FIGURE 3, thus leaving the said pecker member free to move to either side of the nose 154 on the rocking member 151. When moved to its next position, the said knob displaces the bar 158 substantially longitudinally as already described, to prevent the mechanism from being moved to the position for underside playing, and when moved further in the same direction, to its third position, it rocks about a guide pin 157 on the base-plate 20 and moves a bell-crank lever 272, pivoted on the pin 156, to move a slide bar 273 having a bent-up end 274. The said end 274 of the bar 273, when so moved, engages the resilient lever 253 and prevents it from acting on the pusher head 18% when the start control is operated, so that a single record resting on the turntable can be played, the pick-up being placed in the starting position by hand, and the machine being stopped automatically when the playing is finished. The parts are shown in this position in FIGURE 10. A lever 275 fixed to a sleeve co-axial with the spindle carrying the knob 159 operates a speed control mechanism of the kind described in my British Patent No. 87,857, with reference to FIGURES 4 and 5 of the drawings.

The operation of the machine, so far as it concerns the present invention, is as follows. Assuming that the machine is idle, with the parts in the position shown in FIGURE 3, so that it is set for playing both sides of the records, the knob 192 is turned to operate the start cam member 241, and is then released, so that the said cam member, with the knob, returns to its normal position. The cam member 241 moves the spool 208 inwardly, its movement being transmitted through the rod 263 and trigger member 199 to the three-armed lever 193 to close the switch 196 and move the friction wheels 51, 52 towards the rim of the turntable, the wheel 51 engaging the said rim due to the position of the plate 235. The slide bar 249 is also moved by the cam member 241 to rock the resilient lever 253 and initiate a cycle of movement of the control unit 58, which starts the playing operating, and playing continues until a final control cycle is initiated by the movement of the pick-up to the inner end of the playing groove on the last record, after the latter has dropped on to the turntable, During this control cycle, the absence of a record on the spindle 35 is sensed by a sizing arm as described in my co-pending application No. 36,088, and, as a result, the solenoid is energised to rock the trigger member 199, after the arm 68 has made the first half of its oscillatory movement, to a position substantially at right-angles to the said arm 68. The solenoid also sets the latch 172 to engage the ear 173 on the plate 62. When the arm 68 starts to return, the ear 173 engages the latch 172, stopping the inward movement of the pick-up arm when the latter is above the rest, the arm 68 continuing its movement and acting, through the trigger member 199, on the three-armed lever 193 to rock the latter so as to open the switch 196 and pull the friction wheels 51 and 52 away from the rim of the turntable.

The rocking of the trigger member 199 also moves the rod 203 to displace the spool 208 to itsother position, ready for actuation to re-start the machine.

If it is desired to stop the machine before the last record is reached, the knob 192 is turned to move the cam member 242, pulling the spool 208- outwardly to set the trigger member in its position substantially perpendicular to the compound arm 68, and initiating a control cycle by moving the side bar 249 to actuate the resilient lever 253, so that the control cycle initiated has the same efiect as thatinitiated by termination of playing of the last record in the stack. The movement of the cam member 242 also moves the member 259, so that the machine remains set for playing whichever side of a record was being played when the knob 192 was operated.

Operation of the lever 255 to move the member 259 moves the plate 261 to remove the arm 148 from the path of the driving pin 61 and inhibit dropping of a record, so that, during the next control cycle the playing of the same record is repeated. Operation of the lever 255 in the opposite direction whilst the machine is running actuates the start cam member 241 to initiate a control cycle and at once bring the next record into play, so that the record in playing position when this operation is effected is rejected.

The operations effected by movement of the knob 159 have already been described.

I claim:

1. In a sound reproducing machine for playing records on the upper side and on the under side thereof, having a rotary control member whereby a playing of an upper side or an under side of a record constitutes each one a control cycle of said machine, a turntable, a pick-up arm, compound arm means controlling the swinging movement of said arm, a driving motor and a reversible driving transmission interposed between said driving motor and said turntable; a first manual control means operating said sound reproducing machine, said control means having a first cam, switch means controlling the admission of electric current to said motor, a rod connected with said first cam on said manual control means, a pivotally mounted movable common actuating member, said rod operatively connected to said common actuating member, said member closing said switch means by way of said rod and said first cam on said manual control means, a trigger member, said compound arm means controlling the swinging movement of said pick-up arm and operatively engaging said trigger member, and a solenoid setting said trigger member to an operating position, said trigger member being pivotally mounted 'on said common actuating member, said trigger member causing said common actuating member to open said switch means at the end of a control cycle of said rotary control member of said machine.

2. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 1, further comprising a change-over device composed of a rocking lever and a pecker, said rocking lever being linked to said compound arm means controlling the swinging movement of said pick-up arm and to said reversible driving transmission, a bar member operatively connected to said manual control means, said bar member connected to said change-over device, said change-over device having setting means to a predetermined position for the setting of said machine for playing the upper side or the under side of a record, respectively.

3. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 2, further comprising a second cam on said manual means, said second cam moving said rod setting said trigger member to an operating position during a control cycle of said machine.

4. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 3, said manual control means having spring means providing for two predetermined positions of said rod, said first and said second cam on said manual control means connected to said rod, moving said rod in opposite direction, respectively, and said first and said second cam having means for self-returning to their normal position independently of said rod.

5. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 4, further comprising a tripping device including elastic linkage means starting a control cycle of said rotary control device, said tripping device being connected with both said first and said second cam of said manual control means.

6. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 5, further comprising a second manually operated control means, a pivotally mounted plate member connected with a said second control means by a rigid link, said plate member having means for interfering with the operation of said rotary control member in such manner that during the operation of said rotary control member following the movement of said plate, said pecker and said rocking lever remain stationary, for rejecting or repeating, respectively, a record.

7. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 6, further comprising a third manually operated control means for selecting the playing of both sides of said records stacked on said machine, or of only one side of each said record.

8. A sound reproducing machine, according to claim 6, further comprising a third manually operated control means, said control means having a sliding bar attached thereto, said sliding bar holding said pecker in a predetermined position preventing said pecker'from changing the position of said rocking member controlling both said swinging movement of said pick-up arm and said reversible driving transmission.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,570,040 Thorens Oct. 2, 1951 3,014,728 Humby Dec. 26, 1961 3,033,576 Bara May 8, 1962 

1. IN A SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINE FOR PLAYING RECORDS ON THE UPPER SIDE AND ON THE UNDER SIDE THEREOF, HAVING A ROTARY CONTROL MEMBER WHEREBY A PLAYING OF AN UPPER SIDE OR AN UNDER SIDE OF A RECORD CONSTITUTES EACH ONE A CONTROL CYCLE OF SAID MACHINE, A TURNABLE, A PICK-UP ARM, COMPOUND ARM MEANS CONTROLLING THE SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID ARM, A DRIVING MOTOR AND A REVERSIBLE DRIVING TRANSMISSION INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID DRIVING MOTOR AND SAID TURNABLE; A FIRST MANUAL CONTROL MEANS OPERATING SAID SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINE, SAID CONTROL MEANS HAVING A FIRST CAM, SWITCH MEANS CONTROLLING THE ADMISSION OF ELECTRIC CURRENT TO SAID MOTOR, A ROD CONNECTED WITH SAID FIRST CAM ON SAID MANUAL CONTROL MEANS, A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED MOVABLE COMMON ACTUATING MEMBER, SAID ROD OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO COMMON ACTUATING MEMBER, SAID MEMBER CLOSING SAID SWITCH MEANS BY WAY OF SAID 